Display sign



Feb. 4, 1936. w. H. BLEECKER, JR

DISPLAY SIGN Filed July 11, 1933 I N V EN TOR. MLL 1AM H. 5; 5 CHER, JR, g k ATTORNEY. 7 v

Patented Feb. 4, 1936 UNHTED SKATES DISPLAY SIGN William H. Bleecker, .lr., -Mount Lebanon, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Chain Company, Inc., a corporation of New York Application July 11, 1933, Serial No. 679,841

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to display signs of the type adapted particularly for use in ex posed locations. It is a common practice to make such display signs with a background of open mesh fabric on which display symbols are formed or mounted. The purpose of the open mesh background is to reduce wind resistance as much as possible. One of the difiiculties with signs of this character is that the fabric is not rigid, and, in the case of large screens, it shows a tendency to sag, also when subjected to high wind pressures it may be deflected to such an extent as to crumple or form permanent bends in the symbols that are attached thereto. Usually such symbols are formed of sheet metal and are incapable in themselves of offering material resistance to bending stresses. The obvious solution of the difficulty is to provide a rigid frame for the wire fabric which will prevent the fabric from sagging under its own weight or being deflected under wind stresses. One of the principal attractions of display signs employing a foraminous background is that the symbols appear to stand out as though. floatingin mid air, and to form a heavy frame about the sign destroys this effect and detracts much from the appearance of the sign. Heretofore. frames have been considered indispensable on large display signs. The longer the sign the heavier and more conspicuous must the frame be.

It is an object of my invention to maintain the effect of having the symbols stand out in space andat the same time to prevent the possibility of any noticeable sagging or lateral deflection.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention the weight of the foraminous panel is supported on a fixed horizontal beam at the bottom of the panel. The panel is maintained in upright position by a tension member at or near the upper margin thereof, said member being stretched taut between a pair of vertical posts. In this Way, sagging is prevented even in display signs of long span and wind deflections are prevented by the tension member. Since the open mesh wire fabric might bellow under the stress of the wind my invention also contemplates the provision of intermediate tension members to eliminate deflection or to reduce the deflection to such extent as toprevent bending the symbols beyond their elastic limit.

Another object of my invention is to provide novel means of attaching the symbols to the foraminous panel,

' Other objects and advantages of my invention willappear in the following description of a preferred embodiment and thereafter the novelty and scope of the invention will be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing;

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a display sign embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmental view showing an enlarged portion of the structure illustrated in Fi 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail view in section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail view in section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmental view on an enlarged scale of a portion of Fig. 1, showing a symbol attached to the fabric panel; and

Fig. 6 is a view in section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

In the drawing, I have used the reference numeral Ii! to indicate a Wire fabric. The particular form of fabric is immaterial although I prefer to use a chain mesh, such as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 5. A sheet or panel of the wire fabric is connected at opposite ends thereof to a pair of tension bars ll. These bars are preferably threaded through the links of the fabric, although other suitable means of attachment may be employed. The fabric panel is supported between a pair of posts H! which, as. shown in the drawing, may be firmly anchored in buried blocks of cement l3. Hook bolts M provide convenient means for securing the tension bars to the posts and for adjusting the tension of the panel between the posts. The posts themselves are supported against the pull of the panel by guys I5 suitably anchored at their lower ends and provided with turnbuckles l5 to adjust the tension thereof. To support the upper edge of the panel, I provide a tension member, such as a cable H, which is threaded through the links of the fabric at the upper margin thereof and is stretched taut between the posts l2 by means of eye-bolts l 3. Intermediate tension members or tie wires B9 are also threaded through the fabric and stretched taut between certain of the hook bolts M.

In the case'of a small panel and particularly one of comparatively short span this means of support would be adequate but where the span of the panel is long some means must be provided forpreventing it from sagging. In the preferred embodiment illustrated I employ a beam 20 which is connected at opposite ends thereof to the post l2 by means of straps H. The beam is supported intermediate the posts l2 upon fixed vertical supports or auxiliary posts 23 which, like the posts l2, may be suitably anchored in cement. The lower edge of the fabric panel is adapted to rest on this beam and is secured thereto at intervals by means of. straps M which pass around the beam 263 and are connected to the fabric by bolts 25 as shown particularly in Fig. 3. At the points where the posts 23 support the beam, I provide a special clamping means which not only attaches the beam to the post but also clamps the fabric to the beam. As shown in Fig. 4, each clamp consists of a pair of clamping members 21 adapted to fit about the beam with a depending portion fitting against the support 23 and upward extension adapted to engage the wire fabric. The members 2! are clamped together by bolts 28 between the supports 23 and the beam 20 and are fixed to the supports 23 by means of a pair of clamping bolts 39. The upper extensions of the members 21 are clamped to the wire fabric by means of bolts 3 I.

Mounted on the fabric panel are various display symbols, as indicated at 32, in Fig. 1. One of these symbols is shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 5. The means of attaching the symbol to the screen is illustrated more particularly in Fig. 6. U-shaped clamping members. 33 are provided which may be fitted over the wires of the fabric and a screw 34 is passed through a screw hole in the symbol and thence through a pair of apertures in the two legs of the clamping member. A nut 35 on the screw serves to clamp the member 33 upon the wire of the fabric and also to secure the display symbol to the clamping member 33. In order to prevent the symbols from sliding on the wires of the fabric I provide each symbol with at least two of the clamps 33 which are clamped about non-parallel wire portions of the fabric. This is clearly shown in Fig. 5 where the letter E is clamped by means of four of the clamps 3.3 to wire portions running at right angles one to the other.

The advantages of. the construction described above will now be readily apparent. Instead of providing a massive frame with a filling of wire fabric, I support the weight of the fabric on a beam 2|] which is fixed against deflection by providing suitable supports thereunder. The number of the supports 23 depends upon the length and weight of the panel. In some cases no supports 23 will be required, the beam 2!] being suificiently rigid and being adequately supported by the connections 2!. The lower edge of the foraminous panel rests on the beam and there is sufficient rigidity in the fabric to prevent it from collapsing under its own weight. The upper edge of the fabric is supported by the tension member I! which may be a wire or cable of inconspicuous diameter. This cable serves to hold the fabric upright and also resists lateral deflection so that the panel may withstand high wind pressures. If the depth of the panel is considerable one or more of the tension members 59 will assist the member If in preventing the panel from being v deflected by the wind.

The characters 32 supported on the panel appear to stand out in space and this effect is not destroyed by the presence of a heavy frame about the panel. Because there is no frame member at the upper margin of the panel the display symbols may, if so desired, project above the panel.

The side bars H and beam 20 may be considered as constituting a U-shaped frame. Since, however, the bars II are maintained in equilibrium under the opposed tension of the fabric Ill and the hook bolts l 4 they may be of very light construction, also the beam 28 may be of light construction because it may be supported at intervals by the members 23. The panel cannot sag even though the span between posts I2 is lengthy because its weight is supported by the beam and it cannot be deflected to any material extend by the wind, because of the tension members I! and I9. Hence the sign cannot be affected by wind or gravity to produce an unsightly appearance.

I have described in some detail, a specific embodiment of. my invention but it will be understood that this is to be taken as illustrative and not limitative and that I reserve the right to make such changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts as may fall within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A display sign comprising a pair of uprights, a panel of open mesh wire fabric disposed in substantially vertical plane between the uprights, a display symbol carried by the panel, a rigid substantially horizontal support secured to and constructed and arranged to support the bottom of the panel to prevent sagging thereof, and a tension member stretched taut between the uprights at the top of the panel and secured to the panel to maintain the same in upright position.

2. A display sign comprising a fixed horizontal beam, a pair of uprights disposed respectively at opposite ends of the beam, a panel of open mesh wire fabric disposed in a substantially vertical plane between the uprights and resting edgewise on the beam, means securing the lower edge of the panel to the beam and opposite ends of the panel to the uprights, a tension member secured to the upper edge of the panel and stretched taut between the uprights, and a display symbol attached to the panel.

3. A display sign comprising a. pair of supporting posts, a U-shaped frame between the posts composed of a fixed horizontal beam connecting the posts and a pair of vertical end bars, a panel of open mesh wire fabric connected at opposite ends thereof to the end bars and supported at its bottom edge upon the beam, a display symbol carried by the fabric, tension means connecting each end bar to the post adjacent thereto, and a tension member connected with the upper margin of the fabric and stretched taut between the posts.

4. A display sign comprising a pair of supporting posts, a U-shaped frame between the posts composed of a fixed horizontal beam connecting the posts and a pair of vertical end bars, a panel of open mesh wire fabric connected at opposite ends thereof to the end bars and supported at its bottom edge upon the beam, a display symbol carried by the fabric, tension means connecting each end bar to the post adjacent thereto, and a tension member threaded through the upper margin of the fabric and stretched taut between the posts.

5. A display sign comprising a pair of supporting posts, a U-shaped frame between the posts comprising a fixed horizontal beam connecting the posts and a pair of vertical end bars, a panel of open mesh wire fabric connected at opposite ends thereof to the end bars and supported at its bottom edge upon the beam, a display symbol carried by the fabric, means connecting each end bar to the post adjacent thereto, a tension member connected with the upper margin of the fabric and stretched taut between the posts, tie wires connected with the fabric intermediate its upper and lower margins and stretched taut between the posts, and means for adjusting the tension of the tension member, the tie wires and the fabric.

6. A display sign comprising a pair of supporting posts, a U-shaped frame between the posts comprising a fixed horizontal beam connecting the posts and a pair of vertical end bars, a panel of open mesh wire fabric connected at opposite ends thereof to the end bars and supported at its bottom edge upon the beam, a display symbol carried by the fabric, means connecting each end bar to the posts adjacent thereto, a tension member threaded through the upper margin of the fabric and stretched taut between the posts, tie wires threaded through the fabric intermediate its upper and lower margins and stretched taut between the posts, and means for adjusting the tension of the tension member, the tie wires and the fabric.

7; A display sign comprising a pair of supporting posts, a U-shaped frame between the posts consisting of a fixed horizontal beam and a pair of vertical end bars, supports for the beam intermediate the posts, a panel of open mesh wire fabric connected at opposite ends thereof to the end bars and supported at its bottom edge upon the beam, a display symbol carried by the fabric,

means connecting each end bar to the adjacent 5 one of said posts, a tension member threaded through the upper margin of the fabric and stretched taut between the posts, tie wires threaded through the fabric intermediate its upper and lower margins and stretched taut be- 10 tween the posts, and means for adjusting the tension of the tension member, the tie wires and the fabric.

WILLIAM H. BLEECKER, JR. 

